


Drowning in Dreams

by Fey_79



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cause that's what they use in the show, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Langst, Pidge | Katie Holt is Savage, Sort Of, druid!Lance, fey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-01-17 11:56:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12365250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fey_79/pseuds/Fey_79
Summary: Thousands of years ago, Lance crashed onto earth while trying to get away from the Galra. He spends the next centuries searching for his fellow paladins and generally getting into trouble. But what happens when he does find them?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, basically, I saw a Tumblr post about Lance being Haggar's son. No idea who came up with it, but couldn't get it out of my head so guess what? I decided to write it! Yaaaaaaaaaay! (I'm gonna die) So, pretty much, Lance is around 7,000 years old. In total. He's w/ the Galra for 'bout... 3,000 years before he gets the fuck outta there. He lands on earth and stays there for 'bout 4,000 before all this stuff happens. Just a warning; you're probably going to regret this. Thanks for reading!

The thing about space is that it's silent. Empty. Devoid of life.

Of course, that's not including the billions of planets and ships dotting the universe. We are focusing on only one of those ships. A gigantic, robotic, blue, space-lion ship, that is. A gigantic, robotic, blue, space-lion ship that is currently surrounded by many, many Galran fleets. The lion uses its tail to fire lasers at the oncoming ships. One of the larger ships explodes, causing a chain reaction. Many of the fighter pilots power down, their controllers in pieces. This allows the lion enough space to make its escape. A glowing blue portal appears in front of the lion. Where it leads, the lion's pilot does not know and does not care. The lion quickly makes its way into the portal, but not before one of the larger ships fires off a shot. The laser hits the lion and sends it spiraling out of control through the portal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Space is silent. But the inside of the Blue Lion is not. In fact, it is quite loud, if Lance's eardrums are anything to go by. The emergency lights are flashing in rhythm with the alert sirens. The Blue Lion was hit by a lucky shot and now he's going to die. Great. He just escaped from a 3,000-year captivity just to die. This is not how he planned his death would go. Alone in a telekinetic, robot, lion that seems to have taken a liking to him. Not o mention, he stole her! Wow. 

Lance hadn't really imagined his death. Living almost 3,000 years and still having most of your life ahead of you can do that to a person. If anything, Lance would guess his death would either be a quiet passing in his, very, old age or a valiant, painful death at the hands of his enemies. Or his mother. Or his fiancee. Stop. Get away from there, brain. Lance was kind of crashing to his death. He would very much appreciate is if his brain could maybe focus for once!

The Lion's engines were out and nothing Lance could do would prevent them from inevitably smashing against something. All he could do was pray that the end of the wormhole wouldn't lead straight to a planet.

The lion exited the wormhole. Almost as if to spite Lance, there was a planet. It completely swallowed the view. And the lion spiraled straight for it. Lance started button mashing, hoping to stop the ship from crashing as black spots danced in his eyes. They burned through the atmosphere, an oxygen-based planet then. Lance only had time to glimpse green and blue before darkness swallowed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing Lance noticed was that he wasn't dead. Wheeeeeee. The second thing was that whatever he was lying on was very soft. And the third was that everything hurt. Like, a lot. Ooowwwwww. Thanks for that, universe.

As he opened his eyes, Lance almost blacked out again but managed to sit himself up. The room (?) he was in was shaped entirely out of wood. There were no doors and the only window was on the ceiling, too high to reach. He was trapped. Lance didn't think he crashed on Olkarion, but there was a lot of green and all the wood... no. He does remember being carried out of his lion by someone with pale, white skin. Definitely not Olkarion, then. But there was so much yellow-green quintessence here. The air practically pulsed with energy. 

The wall rippled to form an opening, bringing Lance out of his internal questioning. A formidable woman entered the room, filling Lance's mind with images of fertile earth and choking vines. She was Alteaniod, with nut-brown skin, green eyes and hair, but what caught Lance's attention were her pointed ears and lack of eye scales. All Alteans had eye scales. It was so deeply ingrained in their DNA it would take  _mili-cycles_ to breed them out... unless she had shifted. But why would she do that? Lance clearly had his scales so the only option... was that... she wasn't Altean. What was going on?

"You are awake. That is good. I have questions for you," The woman's face remained impassive as she spoke, "Who are you?"

"You may call me Blue." The first rule Lance had ever been taught was to never give out his true name, "And you? Where am I?"

"My title is Titania, Queen of the Seelie Courts. From now on you belong to me. Come." Titania paused by the door. Her stony expression melted into a playful smirk. "Welcome to Earth." 


	2. Covens and Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only purpose this chapter has is to provide some background on Lance. It was also for me to get a feel for writing Blue and Lance's interactions. Every magickal thing I describe is based purely on research, common superstition/knowledge, and personal ideas. Enjoy!

A single drop of water slid down the car window Lance was looking out of. Beyond the glass, other cars raced by. Smears of color in a rainy, gray world. But what captured his attention was the sky. Massive, dark clouds were rolling in, promising a storm. That was good, the kids always had fun helping Maria's coven bottle lighting and tame wind. Something about storm riding always manages to make you feel invincible.  
  
A loud honk brought Lance back to reality. He was in the back of a taxi, heading to meet Eli at the airport. Eli always insisted she could teleport to the coven's house, Lance always picked her up. Eli was Maria's (Lance's adoptive mother/sister figure) thread-sister. Bound together by fate, kin in everything but blood. Maria lived with her coven (and Lance) in Varadero, Cuba, selling potions and talismans. Eli traveled around the globe to aid in helping village healers stay up to date on modern magicks.  
  
A sudden tap on Lance's window sent him barreling out of the car and scooping up Eli in a hug. Images of blooming flowers and crowds of people fill his mind.  
  
"Eli! It's been so long! Maria was almost levitating from excitement when I left! You have to tell me everything that happened to you!" he squealed.  
  
"Lance! I haven't seen you in forever! And I'll tell you all at dinner, you know this! But I might show you something totally swishy if you tell me how you get so tall." Eli winked as she got in the taxi. It was an empty offer and they both knew it.  
  
The cab driver turned around. "Where to?"  
  
"Ave Playa, Varadero. Thanks." Lance shut the window separating the cab and continued in a low voice. "Eli, you've been trying to get me to tell you how to shapeshift for 14 years! It's not going to work. No matter how much you bribe me, I'll give you the same answer-"  
  
"You don't know," she finished for him, "You tell me the same thing every year Lance! Anyways, the thingamabob! The thingy thingamabob!"  
  
"What thingy thingamabob?"  
  
"Guess!" Lance reached out with his mind, finding a warm, glowing pocket in Eli's bag.  
  
"It's why you have no luggage... and it's in your bag."  
  
"Wrong! It is the bag!" She crowed with glee, "After 13 long years I, Eliska of Ostrava, have finally stumped you, Lance of... somewhere."  
  
That was another thing about Lance that no one knew, where he was from. Lance himself knew it, of course. It was rather hard to forget crash landing on a random planet a few thousand years ago. Not that many people knew how old he was, either.  
  
"Nuh uh! The bag, in the bag, same thing! But where did you get a space-time fold?! I thought they were only theoretical?" Lance lunged for the bag.  
  
"Hey! Don't grab stuff that isn't yours," Eli ruffled his hair, "How did you know what it was? It's a first-of-a-kind bag that was just invented by a guy I know in Indonesia! And I didn't even know someone had come up with the idea!"  
  
"One, I've seen a few blueprints for a machine that might be able to do the same thing with a few-thousand tweaks. Two, not just invented. And three, it was purely theoretical. I know the cousin of the guy who came up with the proof." Sort of. Lance struggled to sustain a tiny fold for more than a minute, but he could.  
  
"Only you, Lance. Only you." Eli sighed. "I still don't understand how you managed to get us into that completely packed joint in Toronto. I mean, like, no room whatsoever. But you went up to the hostess and asked for the manager. He takes one look at you and Bam! We have a private room! I would say it was like magick but I've seen magick and that was pure awesomeness."  
  
"Oh! You mean the vampire? Umm...Paco! His sister was in a pretty deep debt and I had some sway with the right people to resolve it. He's a solid dude." OK, so it was a debt with the Fae and Lance was Advisor to Oberon and Titania at the time. He felt bad for the girl and helped her pay off what she owed. Big deal.  
  
"Was that his name? Paco? Huh. Anyways, how's the coven? Any new recruits?"  
  
"The coven's doing great! Beca finally finished her Magical Theory degree. Sheila discovered that silly-string actually does work for a summoning circle. Only blue works, though. Any other color will blow up in your face. Jonathan's still trying to make that floating water bottle work right. Sue's started help Maria fill potion orders but she always complains about her joints while mixing..." And Lance continued to fill Eli in on what the coven had been doing for the past year. He had been staying with them for 16 years. It was odd for someone who's not a witch to be staying with a coven but no one cared. Lance had met Maria at a magic conference in New Orleans. The woman had almost kidnapped him right then and there when he had demonstrated his magick. Maria had taken him in when she learned he didn't have anyone and the coven's been like a family to him ever since. "Nina's been such a blessing though. I mean the discount she gave Anna has been the only reason we're able to fill orders without dying."  
  
"Energy? Or books?" asked Eli.  
  
"Energy." Everyone knew that magickals turned energy into magick. Too much magic with too little energy resulted in the magick tapping into your life energy and you dying. Too much energy and too little magic resulted in the magic erupting, it was also fatal. Magick was the official word for tying energy to the physical world. Rituals, plants, etc. were great for magick and sometimes lessened the energy needed. Most of the tips people had learned over time were in books and helped magickals stay alive.  
  
"Hmm. Well, I need to get on the internet, I've spent too long without it." Eli pulled out her laptop, leaving Lance in semi-silence. Closing his mind, Lance found the door in his mind leading to Blue and opened it.  
  
' _Hello, cub_.' Blue's voice trickled into his mind, bringing along her icy currents and powerful waves.  
  
' _Blue._ ' Lance wrapped himself in her cold. ' _I've missed you_.'  
  
' _And I, you_ ,' She purred, ' _Come visit. I am lonely. I have not felt my sisters in Milli-Phoebes and you do not speak often._ '  
  
_'I'm sorry. You know I avoid this. Time passes weirdly. The last time we spoke Maria thought I was in a coma._ ' Lance felt Blue's amusement at the memory.  
  
' _Yes. But there is news! News you must know!_ ' A cold pit buried itself in Lance's stomach. The last time Blue had news he had to move from Nice, France to Varadero, Cuba. ' _Not quite that far this time. I know you do not want to leave these people but it is important. Very important. They will be here. Close to me. Black and Red are here already. And close to them is Green! You must come!_ '  
  
And he did. He really did. Lance had to go. Because in the many, many years he had been on earth, there had never been three possible paladins in the same place. Never. And surely there would be a possible Yellow somewhere in the universe. He mentally sighed. ' _Where do I have to go?_ '  
  
Lance could practically feel Blue smiling. ' _The Galaxy Garrison_.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every magickal thing I describe is based purely on research, common superstition/knowledge, and personal ideas. If you have any ideas, changes, or information that you think I should add/make please comment!
> 
> I update every Saturday. Have a great week!


	3. Glamours and Nicknames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes a few friends ;)

No matter how qualified Lance was, it still came as a surprise when the Garrison accepted him. On a full-ride scholarship for their diplomacy program, no less! So, here he was. Waiting in line to be inspected before getting on a plane to the Garrison. Wheeee!

 

“Name?” a goblin, glamoured as human, droned.

 

“Lance McClain. Nice outfit. Very… magical.” The goblin looked up from her paperwork at that. It really was a good glamour. Bright eyes, flushed cheeks, full lips. But there was something cruel in her eyes that made Lance see caves and smoke. The glamour shimmered like hot air in the desert, allowing Lance to catch a glimpse of sallow skin and sharp teeth bared in a grin.

 

“McClain? From your resume, I thought you would be more into sunscreen.” She took a drag from her cigarette. Wow. Nice way of asking if he was a vampire.

 

“Nah. If I’m going to cover up it's gonna be with makeup, sunscreen clogs up my pores.” With that Lance pushed a little bit of his magick through its mental barrier. The goblin’s eyes widened at that and she dropped her cigarette. Good. Let the bozos who thought he was a bloodsucker mull that over.

 

“Well, dang! Didn’t peg you as the type! Should’a known when I saw your allergy to iron. You’ll want to follow me. The more _humane_ idiots always insist on using a bunch of it in the planes.” Lance hummed in agreement as he followed her. Goblins always got more chatty once they knew you could blast them to smithereens.

 

“You’re sitting right next to… Tsuyoshi Garrett! Where are you?” The goblin shouted.

 

“Umm…  Here!” a large, nervous-looking boy with a yellow headband held up his hand as Lance and the goblin made their way over. The boy filled Lance’s mind with tall mountains and soooo much food! Dang, this dude liked to cook!

 

“Garrett, this is Lance. Perfect! It looks like you two are roommates!” The goblin put their hand up to Lance’s ear and continued in a hoarse whisper. “He really is a nice kid, but there’s nothing I can do if he barfs on you.”

 

“Thanks for the tip, but I think we’ll be fine.” Lance grinned at her as he buckled in.

“Well, just in case you need anything… here’s my number.” She scribbled something on his hand, winked, and swaggered away.

 

“How did you get her number? _Wait...was-that-rude_ ? Nevermind!” The boy next to Lance (did she say Yoshi?) squeaked and Lance had to do a double take. The amount of Yellow quintessence radiating off him was making Lance get a headache and the plane starting to take off wasn’t helping either. This guy was _made_ to pilot the Yellow Lion. Blue rumbled in his mind, curling around his brain to peer at her sister’s pilot to be. She purred with pleasure at the boy’s antics. He would do fine.

 

“What? Oh, no. We just met but it turns out we have some common interests and we’d like to stay in touch. And it’s no problem, dude.” Lance’s smile turned into an O of surprise. “Oh! I never introduced myself! The name’s Lance.”

 

Yoshi (?) smiled back, “My name’s Tsuyoshi. It’s okay if you mispronounce it. Almost everyone does but it might be on purpose.” His voice trailed off.

 

“Dang, dude. That’s an awesome name! I’m not horrible at pronunciation but I definitely don’t want to butcher it. Got a nickname or something?” Nicknames were good. Safe. Tsuyoshi had too much truth in it. Nowadays, names didn’t hold much power unless you let them... but still, better safe than sorry.

 

“Other than Robo or Gear Boy? No…” Tsuyoshi laughed nervously, “Why?”

 

“Dude. Those people are seriously uncool. I mean, like, that’s really horrible. A nickname totally gets rid of people mispronouncing your name though. Like my name is actually _super_ unpronounceable, so people just call me Lance.” Okay, it was just unpronounceable for most Earthens. Lance had met, like, seven people who could pronounce it but they were a traveling group of Selkies and Kelpies who spoke _Irish_ , so they don’t count.

 

“Huh. I mean one of my cousins calls me Hunk, but… I mean, it’s not bad, I just don’t know.” Tsuyoshi dithered. Lance put his hand on the other boy’s shoulder.

 

“Hunk’s perfect! As long as you’re okay with that I mean…”

 

“No! No! I’m fine with it! I like it! It’s just…” Tsuyoshi trailed off, wringing his hands.

 

“It’s just…?” Lance prompted.

 

“I don’t know, people might not like it?” Tsuyoshi winced.

 

“Hey, it’s a great nickname! You _are_ a hunk if I do say so myself. And if anyone gives you trouble for it, I’ll make sure they have bad luck for a month!” Lance proclaimed. He was going to protect this giant, teddy-bear of a person as much as possible.

 

“Aww, jeez. How would you give someone bad luck for a month though? Like, would you just trip them in the halls? Or something worse?” Hunk asked, his eyes shining with questions.

 

Lance rubbed his head sheepishly “Oh, I’m kind of… superstitious.Yeah, let’s go with that.”

 

“Huh, so you believe in ghosts and stuff?”

 

“Dude. Believe? I’ve summoned some.”

 

“Whoah. Summoning actually works?”

 

“As long as you do it right, yeah.”

 

And so, Lance and Hunk easily fell into conversation, clicking together seamlessly. They hardly noticed when the plane touched down at their new home, four hours later. A large man climbed into the plane.

 

“Listen up, Greenies! My name is Commander Iverson! I am in charge of you for the rest of your stay here! That means if you have a problem, you don’t come to me about it!” He shouted. Some people chuckled, Lance included. Commander Iverson turned to him. Lance saw lightning and large, feathery wings. Related to a Valkyrie then. And he _knew_ it, too. That was rare.

 

“You think that’s funny, newbie?” The large man glared. Lance let a little bit of magick into his words. Just enough to let Iverson know he was powerful.

 

“Well, Sir, it depends on whether you wanted it to be funny, or not. Would you mind telling me?” Lance asked with fake innocence in his voice. The entire plane laughed at his question. The Commander’s eyes widened and then narrowed.

 

“Huh. Anyways, you will be assigned dorms. Seeing as it’s too late to do anything but get settled in you will your asses to the mess hall, eat dinner, and get unpacking. Got it?” Iverson ordered.

 

“Yes, Sir!”

 

“Dude! How did he let you off the hook for that!” Hunk whispered to him.

 

“And before I forget! McClain, was it? I want a word with you!” Iverson shouted, marching over to Lance.

 

“Nevermind.” Hunk crept away.

 

“Sir?” Lance was confused. Once people knew you were a threat, they usually left you alone.

 

“Listen, kid. There’s something not right about you, and I’m only going to tell you once. I don’t care what kind of eldritch horror you really are, you answer to _me_ . _I’m_ your commanding officer and if I even have a _whiff_ of you harming anyone on campus, I’ll have you expelled before you can blink. Got it?” And wasn’t that great. Iverson was going to be watching Lance. He really didn’t need anyone paying attention to him, specifically. At least, not if he’s going to visit Blue.

 

“Got it, Sir.” Lance walked away and stopped, “I hear there’s going to be a storm tonight, have fun!”

  
Iverson’s face transformed from threatening to shocked in an instant. If only Lance had a camera! He mulled over Iverson’s words. Harming anyone… you know what? Screw him. Iverson could… best not finish that thought. But seriously, thinking Lance was going to hurt someone was messed up. The dude was seriously paranoid. It _would_ be fun to.... Say, bat Iverson around a bit and play off of that wariness. And so when Hunk found Lance again, he was smirking with promised trouble. If Iverson liked storms… well, he was _getting_ a storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a personal opinion of mine that Valkyries like to fly about in storms. And I thought that having Iverson as a sort-of Valkyrie makes sense. He's just so strict and 'avenging' and it just clicks with me. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I'm sorry that it's taken me a while to update! Things have been hectic with school and just life in general. I hope you like this!


	4. Fire and Starlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More friends!

The Garrison was actually a pretty interesting place. A multitude of students from around the world, first-class technology, not-completely-horrible food, and plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in! It was perfect for sneaking around, especially if you had a little bit of no-don't-look-at-me wrapped around you.

It turned out that Hunk's Great-Grandmother was a witch from New Orleans. He didn't have a lick of magick in him, but Hunk had inherited her talent for knowing what ingredients went well together. Yet, his limited knowledge of her rituals allowed enough basis for magickal theory, which Lance was great at teaching. So, here they were. Sitting in an abandoned classroom that Lance was using to store his notes, debating with each other about whether coffee-grounds could have the same potency as tea leaves in divination when Lance paused mid-statement.

"Did you hear that?" Lance whispered.

Hunk's head whipped towards the door. "Hear what, dude? It's dead silent except for your paranoid-"

"Shh!" Lance cut him off.

"What?! I was going to say muttering! No need to-oomph!" Lance wrapped his hand around Hunk's mouth at some unidentifiable talking that was suddenly getting louder.

"... it, Shiro! You know I don't want you going up there! It's..." Voice #1 sounded young and infuriated. Lance was immediately reminded of... nope. Just nope. No. Niet. Ne. Nien and no in a whole bunch of other languages. Not going there.

"Kei... you're being irrational. I've gone up... " Voice #2 was older and sent Lance's mind back to star-filled windows and a deep voice that seemed to permeate your very bones.

"Not for this long!" Voice #1 shouted. Hunk jumped and Lance released him.

Voice #2 tried to reason. "I know it's longer than you'd like but it's a great opportunity and Matt-"

"Right, because it's  _all_ about your precious  _boyfriend_!" Dang, that was a low blow. Was this a couple? No, there was a boyfriend. Roommates?

"What? W-we are  _not_ dating!" Lance could only imagine the blush on this dude's face.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." Oooh, #1 was good at this!

" _Who do you think they are?_ " Hunk mouthed to Lance, who shrugged in response. But they didn't have to wonder long as the door was thrust open by one of the men. Everyone froze. Two guys stood in the doorway.

One was clearly younger than the other. Dressed in a cadet uniform, he had dark hair in a... mullet(?), purple(??) eyes, and fair skin. He was hot. And he was extremely pissed. Lance guessed this was #1.

That meant #2 had to be the other man. Tall, perfect eyeliner, and even wearing civilian clothing, #2's I'm-dissapointed-in-you look was way more intimidating than #1's attempt to burn Hunk's face off.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" #1 asked brusquely.

"My name's Lance and the beautiful ray of sunshine sitting next to me is Hunk. We're studying. You?" Lance's mind reeled as he spoke nonchalantly. #2 sent out  _waves_  of black quintessence and #1 reeked of red quintessence. No matter how long it'd been, Lance still tensed up, expecting a stinging slap at any moment.

Hunk covered his blushing face with his hands. Lance immediately relaxed. "Aaaw! Thank you for the nice!"

#2 spoke up. "Umm... This is my classroom." Oh.

"Oh, sorry. Someone gave us a key and said it wasn't used for anything, so we use it to study." Not a lie, just not the whole truth.

"Oh, yeah? Who?" #1 was extremely rude in person.

Lance raised a critical eyebrow. "Colonel Lanner gave us permission to use this classroom. However, we can always find another spot, if you would prefer."

The two guys glanced at each other. #2 responded, his voice strained. "No, it's fine. Just... can you come back at a different time?  _Keith_ and I need to have a little  _chat_."

"Yeah, sure. See you around." Lance started gathering up his notes and nudged Hunk to do the same.

"Bye."

The door shut behind the duo and Hunk exploded. "Dude! How? Just... how?"

"How what? Get us permission to come back later? That was easy." Lance started walking down the hall.

"No! Not that! You managed to talk to Takashi Shirogane! The greatest pilot to ever live!" Hunk's eyes grew wide. "Oh. My. Gosh. That was Takashi Shirogane."

"Yes, we just established that." Lance looked at the door. "But who was the other guy?"

"What? Other guy? Oh! Keith Kogane, he's in some of my classes. He's a pretty good pilot too, a lot of disciplinary problems though." Hunk went back to rambling. "I was in the same room as Takashi Shirogane. My moms are going to scream! I can't wait to..." Lance tuned him out.

Hunk was almost completely pure Yellow. (He had a little bit of Blue that caused him to be less confident about his decisions than a true Yellow would. Lance would work on that.) But, still- that was super rare. Lance had only come across like... nine mostly pure Yellows in all his seven-thousand-ish years of life. But it made sense, the Galrans and Earth practically cultivated a yourself-first-others-second mindset that was the complete opposite of what Yellow Quintessence was all about.

Takashi Shirogane was completely Black. Lance could tell the man was doubtful of his own abilities and leadership, but from what Lance had seen on TV and heard at the Garrison, Shirogane would make an impressive Black Paladin. At least, he couldn't possibly be worse than the last one...

Keith Kogane... a perfect Red, but there was something off about him. Something about him didn't seem right. There wasn't anything magical about him, that was for sure. But he wasn't.... entirely human... hmm. Lance would have to check on that. But how? Keith didn't seem like the type to just make friends, so... huh. How to keep tabs on Keith without A) being friends or B) making it weird. Lance might have to pull a few favors to do this one right.


	5. Crystals and Favors

Ok, whatever asshole was in charge of life clearly didn’t think this through. Having the Kerberos Mission fail because of ‘Pilot Error’ was the least thought through thing in the history of things. (Lance was probably exaggerating there. Invading Russia in the middle of winter had to take the cake, _Napoleon_ ) But still, Takashi Shirogane was one of the best pilots Lance had ever seen. There was no way he had crashed. Paired with the fact that Blue was a little unsettled, Lance decided to bring in a favor. Rifling through his bag, Lance brought out a tiny, intricately carved crystal and pushed some energy into it. The crystal light up and projected an image.

 

“What’s that blasted ringing?” A tiny, wrinkled woman appeared in the light. Her large earrings jangled as she turned her head. “Oh, hey! Lazuli! You look as young as always. I expect Coven life to be treating you well.”

 

“Anveeksha.” Lance nodded. “I need to cash in a favor.”

 

Her eyebrows rose up, showing off heavily lined, milky-white eyes and she gave a gap-toothed grin. “Well, well, well! What might one such as you need from my humble abilities?”

 

“Do not. I am not of the courts any longer, do not treat me as such. And I need information.” Honestly, Anveeksha always grated on his nerves.

 

She cackled as if in response to Lance’s thoughts. “Of course, of course! What else am I for? But being a bit more specific might help me out here, Little Gem.”

 

Lance gave a mental sigh. “Where is Takashi Shirogane?”

 

Anveeksha’s eyes gained a silvery luster. When she spoke it was in the rasping voice of many people. “ **Takashi Shirogane is shielded from us. We know not where he is.** ” Lance prepared to hang up the call.

 

“ **But** .” Lance’s head shot up. “ **We know of who keeps him from our sight. Her magic is powerful and deep but is _wrong_. It oozes and ensnares what she wishes. Her magic is corrupt. _And you know who she is_ _._** ” Oh, no. Not _Her._ Anyone but Her. She would destroy entire Galaxies if She knew he was here.

 

“I hope it is not who I believe.” Lance traced the carvings on the crystal worriedly

“ **And some advice, halfling. You seek one of Green. Listen here, for you will not find them. They must come to you. Follow your plan to gain the Red one’s favor and all will fall into place.** ” The glow in Anveeksha’s eyes faded and her voice returned to normal. “I hope that helped, little gem.”

 

“It did, Anveeksha, it really did. I appreciate it.” Lance went to hang up.

 

“Lance.” He looked at the old woman. “Be careful.”

 

The image cut out, leaving Lance alone in the dark.


End file.
